


Lankin Long

by ChangelingChilde



Series: And All Disastrous Things [3]
Category: Child Ballads, Faerie Folklore
Genre: Cannibalism References, Deeply disturbing, Euthanasia, F/M, Faeries - Freeform, Ghosts, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Magical Realism, Oddly Touching, References to the Child Ballads
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-05
Updated: 2017-08-05
Packaged: 2018-12-11 09:27:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11711574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChangelingChilde/pseuds/ChangelingChilde
Summary: A short and creepy original work.





	Lankin Long

Lankin Long was always kind to children. His wife was a nurse, she worked at the children's hospital in the city, and sometimes she came home crying with stories of what so-called parents had done. That was why he was out tonight, in fact--he had a little wooden doll for to give to a broken child with nothing.  
  
He came in carefully, as he always did, so the cruel man who thought he owned the girl would never know. Carefully he tread across the moonbeams and stopped next to a bed with bloodstained sheets. (Oh how he hoped it was just from menarche, not internal injuries . . .)  
  
The girl woke, as they always did, when he put the fetching little toy in the bed. He smiled at her and she blinked, confused.  
  
"A toy? For me? But I thought Santa only came on Christmas . . ."  
  
Lankin Long did not look much like Santa Claus. Lankin Long was thin and gangly and did not have a beard. The little girl, however, refused to be dissuaded. And then came the question that broke his heart. ~~As it always did.~~  
  
"Santa, can I come home with you?"  
  
He bit his lip. He had children already, and food was getting lean. So surely one more couldn't hurt?  
  
"Of course you can, my dear." He picked her up carefully and tiptoed away with her, leaving the doll in her place. ~~As he always did.~~

 

When he got home his dear wife let him in, and she smiled with relief when she saw the girl. "You saved her! Oh Lankin dear, you saved her. Let me get a hot bath going for the little lass, shall I?" ~~As she always did.~~  
Lankin Long relaxed in his favorite chair, listening to the water run. His children were putting together a puzzle on the dining room table, as they always did.

"We've got a new playmate for you, darlings," he said with a soft smile.

"Thank you, Daddy!" chorused the pale, pale children. "Did you save her too, like you did us?"

"Not quite yet," said Lankin Long, "but very soon. And then there will be a lovely roast."

A moment later his wife walked by, holding a very sharp needle indeed and Lankin Long began to sing the song named for him, as he always did. His beloved faerie nursemaid would be introducing the newest ghost to her fellows soon, and all was right with the world.

**Author's Note:**

> C.f. Child Ballad #93, and remember that faeries don't quite get charity.


End file.
